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Damn, this turned into an interesting thread quick. So do you need to change up your swing when it comes to softball since the ball is coming in much slower?

Partially.

A lot of the adjustment for me just became about staying disciplined and waiting back on the ball. Soooo many of my early at bats ended with me rolling over to third base because I'd be way out in front.

I ultimately quit because the park I was at got too expensive and wasn't well-kept enough to justify it. Played in a work league then for a season and everybody was way too bad (we're talking people who've never played any ball in their life), so that was absolutely 0 fun outside of chasing shit down in left center field.

@David. where you're at, is there a dumb pitcher protection rule? Down here in the Houston area, almost every single league has a rule where a line drive or a one hopper hit back in the vicinity of pitcher is an automatic out. It got enforced like up to 5 feet above their head even. Pissed me off so much.
 
Partially.

A lot of the adjustment for me just became about staying disciplined and waiting back on the ball. Soooo many of my early at bats ended with me rolling over to third base because I'd be way out in front.

I ultimately quit because the park I was at got too expensive and wasn't well-kept enough to justify it. Played in a work league then for a season and everybody was way too bad (we're talking people who've never played any ball in their life), so that was absolutely 0 fun outside of chasing shit down in left center field.

@David. where you're at, is there a dumb pitcher protection rule? Down here in the Houston area, almost every single league has a rule where a line drive or a one hopper hit back in the vicinity of pitcher is an automatic out. It got enforced like up to 5 feet above their head even. Pissed me off so much.
Pitcher protection? I've only seen that in senior leagues.

"shooting middle" is obviously something you try to avoid, especially once you're playing at a level where most guys can call their shot, but I've never seen it penalized.
 
Pitcher protection? I've only seen that in senior leagues.

"shooting middle" is obviously something you try to avoid, especially once you're playing at a level where most guys can call their shot, but I've never seen it penalized.


Yeah it's pretty standard practice down here at all levels. It just absolves the pitcher of any fielding responsibility and punishes a batter for hitting a ball up the middle, which is usually the result of a good swing. It drove me nuts.

If safety is the concern, give them a net to stand behind or make them wear a helmet when pitching or something, imo.
 
Yeah it's pretty standard practice down here at all levels. It just absolves the pitcher of any fielding responsibility and punishes a batter for hitting a ball up the middle, which is usually the result of a good swing. It drove me nuts.

If safety is the concern, give them a net to stand behind or make them wear a helmet when pitching or something, imo.
I mean, in any league where guys are capable of controlling where they hit it, the pitchers should be good enough to field their position.

I've seen guys who are basically in catching gear on the mound, but they know what they're getting into.
 
Partially.

A lot of the adjustment for me just became about staying disciplined and waiting back on the ball. Soooo many of my early at bats ended with me rolling over to third base because I'd be way out in front.

I ultimately quit because the park I was at got too expensive and wasn't well-kept enough to justify it. Played in a work league then for a season and everybody was way too bad (we're talking people who've never played any ball in their life), so that was absolutely 0 fun outside of chasing shit down in left center field.

@David. where you're at, is there a dumb pitcher protection rule? Down here in the Houston area, almost every single league has a rule where a line drive or a one hopper hit back in the vicinity of pitcher is an automatic out. It got enforced like up to 5 feet above their head even. Pissed me off so much.
Varies by league and by night. No rules for tournaments, people wear face masks. They give them nets in rec leagues
 
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Any of you guys every play with that 16" softball? I played in one rec league that used that. Actually worked out pretty well for co-ed games.
 
Any of you guys every play with that 16" softball? I played in one rec league that used that. Actually worked out pretty well for co-ed games.
Played one game with a group that used a mush ball and it was pretty irritating. Equalized talent yoo much
 
Played one game with a group that used a mush ball and it was pretty irritating. Equalized talent yoo much

Yeah, it's kind of more for the co-ed leagues and less serious games. Most teams I know that played with it basically consisted of a good male team that would add girls for mushball on the side. Made it more of a social thing rather than being highly competitive.
 
Yeah, it's kind of more for the co-ed leagues and less serious games. Most teams I know that played with it basically consisted of a good male team that would add girls for mushball on the side. Made it more of a social thing rather than being highly competitive.
Our coed is pretty competitive. Your teams success depends on your girls. My go to girls are good for girl requirements and they're fun, kinda lucky.

Filling the rest of the girl roster is tough. I have a list of 25 rank ordered that I go down when I need a sub and often all 25 say no
 
Going to sound weird but after I started interlocking my index finger on my bottom hand and my pinky on the top hand I hit for serious power. Someone told me it makes you flip your wrists faster.
 
Going to sound weird but after I started interlocking my index finger on my bottom hand and my pinky on the top hand I hit for serious power. Someone told me it makes you flip your wrists faster.
Idk about that but the less fingers you have on the bat the more whip you get
 
Idk about that but the less fingers you have on the bat the more whip you get
I don't know about that... But I know they stopped putting Esther at 3rd base from then on.
 
Tried again. Went back to old swing as a base. Feel like I failed but I tried to implement:

1. Not bringing the hands until I felt the hips
2. Remember to snap wrists
3. Point bat towards pitcher in stance
4. Stop focusing so hard on bat speed and instead on the above

I had a different game plan to get hips going Than above but I was trying to do too much.

 
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Tried again. Went back to old swing as a base. Feel like I failed but I tried to implement:

1. Not bringing the hands until I felt the hips
2. Remember to snap wrists
3. Point bat towards pitcher in stance
4. Stop focusing so hard on bat speed and instead on the above

I had a different game plan to get hips going Than above but I was trying to do too much.


You have some solid swings here. You're taking your hands to the ball (good) on the ones that are being driven off the bat.

The swings where your hands are coming underneath the ball are the swings where it's fizzle right off your bat. Definitely some improvement.
 

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